Battle of Salamis - Fast and Easy Rules for Students Page 1 of 3

Ram or Die! - The Battle of Salamis (480 BC)

Fast and Easy Rules for Students

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By Matt Fritz

Historical Background: The Persian invasion of Greece launched by Darius in

490 BC failed when the Athenians won a great victory at Marathon. After Darius
died his son Xerxes resolved to succeed where his father had failed. In 480 BC
he bridged the Hellespont and invaded Greece with an enormous army. Despite
the heroics of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae the Persian army seized Athens,
forcing the inhabitants to flee. Victorious on land, Xerxes concentrated on
defeating the Greek navy. His fleet outnumbered the Greeks by about 3:1, but the
Greeks drew him into a trap. His fleet was soundly beaten. The defeat of the
Persian navy forced Xerxes and his army to retreat back across the Hellespont
bridges, ending the invasion.

Battle 1: The Greek navy hung back, trying to lure the Persians into the narrow channel. The Persians obliged
them, charging in with a dense concentration of ships that made maneuvering impossible. They were met at the
narrowest part of the channel by a brave advance guard of Greek Triremes. The Greeks bottlenecked the
Persians with effective ramming and boarding attacks. The frustrated Persians struggled to find a way to get
through the Greeks and deploy their full force. After many frustrating moments they broke through on the right
flank and poured through the opening. Finally able to deploy freely they turned the flank and attacked ferociously.
The Greeks put up the best defense they could, and held the line for a time, but were worn down by the larger
Persian fleet. The battle ended in a victory for the Persians.

The Fleets: Right now there aren't any cheap plastic trireme models available in a small enough scale for this
battle. Here are some paper ships you can print and use: Colored Ships, Black & White Ships. The black & white
ships can be reproduced on a copying machine (print opposing fleets on different colored paper) or given to the
kids to color. Ships should be mounted on 2" x 1" bases.

The Board: The Greeks lured the large Persian fleet into a narrow waterway. The Persians were unable to
comfortably deploy their entire fleet and this tipped the odds in favor of the Greeks. The coastline should be
clearly marked on the battlefield.

Deployment: The fleets should begin at least 12" inches apart as shown on the map.

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Greek Fleet Persian Fleet

25 Triremes 50 Triremes

Rules

Sequence of Play:
1. Persian Move
2. Ramming & Boarding
3. Greek Move
4. Ramming & Boarding

Movement: Ships can move 6" per turn. It

costs 2" of movement to turn 90 degrees or
less. Ships can move backwards at half speed.

Ramming: In order to attempt a ram a ship

must move 3" straight ahead and contact an
enemy ship. The ship can maneuver into
position before moving 3" straight ahead, but
the 3" ramming run cannot include any turns.
The most effective tactic was to ram the
enemy in the side. Determine whether the ram
was a side ram or front/rear ram. A ship that has rammed an enemy ship rolls one die and checks the Ramming
Table for the results. A ship that is sunk by ramming is removed from play.

Ramming Table
Die Roll to Sink Enemy Ship
Attacking Ship
Side Ram Front/Rear Ram

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Greek 3-6 5-6

Persian 4-6 6

Boarding: If two ships end the move in contact because of a failed ramming
attack, or regular movement that didn't meet the requirements for a ram attampt,
the crews of the ship will fight. Each player rolls one die. The player that rolls
higher wins the fight. Greek ships win ties. The crew of the losing ship is
eliminated. The losing ship should be marked as captured but it remains on the
board. Captured ships cannot move or fight. The winning ship can move normally
during it's next movement phase.

Optional - Hex Map: The rules could be easily adapted to be played on a hex
map. Hexes should be small, 3" or less. Ships would be required to face one of the sides of the hex. Change the
inches of movement to hexes - ships can move 6 hexes. A ship can turn one hex side (60-degrees) at a cost of 2
hexes of movement. A ship must enter the enemy's hex to ram, otherwise two ships cannot occupy the same hex.
Boarding and grappling is allowed against ships that are one hex away. Side rams are defined by the two hexes
on each side of the ship.

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Resources

l "Salamis" by Marvin Scott, Lone Warrior #129, solo scenario

l "Ancient Fleets - Rules for Ancient Naval Action" by John Bobeck & Stuart Schoenberger, MWAN #17
l "Ramming Versus Boarding" by Rev. Aelred Glidden, MWAN #91
l "Ram and Board - Simple Rules for Ancient Galleys" by Bob Richardson, MWAN #53
l "Triremes and Day Dreams - Advanced Naval Rules for Ancient Battles" by Lion's Den Wargamers, The
Penny Whistle #43
l "Greek Fire" by Walt O'Hara, Novag News Winter 2002
l "Trireme - Ancient Naval Wargame Rules" by Andy Watkins Wargames Central
l "Ramming Speed!" by William Johnsons, Jackson Gamers
l "Death on the Seas - Ancient Era Naval Skirmish Rules" by Tom Hinshelwood, Wargames Journal
l "All Ships! Ram Speed" by Kurt Bowker

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